Alanis Morissette
Courage and willingness to just go for it, whether it is a conversation or a spontaneous trip or trying new things that are scary - it is a really attractive quality.Collection: Courage
What influenced me was Tori Amos, who was unapologetic about expressing anger through music, and Sinead O'Connor. Those two in particular were really moving for me, and very inspiring, before I wrote 'Jagged Little Pill.'Collection: Anger
The spirituality that I experience sometimes touches on religion, in that I resonate with the thread of continuity that permeates through all religions. But in terms of it being a concretized, organized part of my life, it's not.Collection: Experience
We're taught to be ashamed of confusion, anger, fear and sadness, and to me they're of equal value to happiness, excitement and inspiration.Collection: Happiness
Canada has a passive-aggressive culture, with a lot of sarcasm and righteousness. That went with my weird messianic complex. The ego is a fascinating monster. I was taught from a young age that I had to serve, so that turned into me thinking I had to save the planet.Collection: Age
Trauma happens in relationships, so it can only be healed in relationships. Art can't provide healing. It can be cathartic and therapeutic but a relationship is a three-part journey.Collection: Art
Anger has been a really big deal for women: how can we express it without feeling that, as the physically weaker sex, we won't get killed. The alpha-woman was burned at the stake and had her head chopped off in days of old.Collection: Anger
Do I appreciate the idea of jealousy, revenge and all these so-called dark qualities? Yes. Do I write these songs in order to engage in some public war with someone? No.Collection: Jealousy
When I was producing on my own, I was doing it in order to - in a very patriarchal entertainment industry, let alone planet - very much hell-bent on trying to prove to myself, if nothing else, that I could do it as a woman.Collection: Alone
My son was five months old, and I built a makeshift studio in my living room so that I could do the attachment parenting approach and write the record at the same time. That was fortuitous, that we could build that in the house.Collection: Parenting
As a teen, I was both anorexic and bulimic.Collection: Teen
When I was younger, I was terrified to express anger because it would often kick-start a horrible reaction in the men in my life. So I bit my tongue. I was left to painstakingly deal with the aftermath of my avoidance later in life, in therapy or through the lyrics of my songs.Collection: Anger
Peace of mind for five minutes, that's what I crave.Collection: Peace
Down the road, I'll probably have a kid or two or three. And there will probably be political events or spiritual things to comment on, and humor.Collection: Humor
I thought the more famous I became, the more friendships I would have, but the opposite was true.Collection: Famous
I have a profound empathy for people who are in the public eye, whether they manifest it themselves or whether it happened by accident - it doesn't matter to me. I think there's a great misunderstanding of what it is to be famous.Collection: Famous
It's a joke to think that anyone is one thing. We're all such complex creatures. But if I'm going to be a poster child for anything, anger's a gorgeous emotion. It gets a bad rap, but it can make great changes happen.Collection: Anger
My greatest environments in which I can grow, or grow up, is in personal romantic relationships with a man.Collection: Romantic
In my opinion, I think sarcasm and humor in a song, without turning it into a novelty song, is really charming.Collection: Humor
I still indulge in a glass of wine or chocolate - treats are mandatory. Without deviating from the day-to-day healthy diet once in a while, it wouldn't be sustainable for me, and that's what I wanted: an approach to eating to last my entire life.Collection: Diet
I was always such a people-watcher. I would sit on street corners alone and watch people and make up stories about them in my head. Then, all of a sudden, I was the one being watched.Collection: Alone
I wish people could achieve what they think would bring them happiness in order for them to realize that that's not really what happiness is.Collection: Happiness
What's that line from TS Eliot? To arrive at the place where you started, but to know it for the first time. I'm able to write about a breakup from a different place. Same brokenness. Same rock-bottom. But a little more informed, now I'm older. Thank God for growing up.Collection: Moving
When someone says that I'm angry it's actually a compliment. I have not always been direct with my anger in my relationships, which is part of why I'd write about it in my songs because I had such fear around expressing anger as a woman.Collection: Fear
For four to six months at a time, I would barely eat. I lived on a diet of Melba toast, carrots, and black coffee.Collection: Diet
And if I had a preference, it would be to be able to not be in the studio until 4 in the morning.Collection: Morning
My own approach has always been to push intense emotions down and attempt to deal with them later. When I was younger, I was terrified to express anger because it would often kick-start a horrible reaction in the men in my life.Collection: Anger
We'll love you just the way you are if you're perfect.Collection: Funny
I'm quite obsessed with the idea of nailing the girl friendship. It's such an art, so delicate.Collection: Friendship
I think a common misperception about attuning and tending to a child's needs so constantly is that they don't grow in their independence, but I think that the opposite is true.Collection: Independence
I see the whole concept of Generation X implies that everyone has lost hope.Collection: Hope
The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his boss.
I highly recommend getting older! There's less tendency to people-please.
I live with some of my best friends from high school, very commune-like, in my house. It's my hippie way of life.
In the face of patriarchy, it is a brave act indeed for both men and women to embrace, rather than shame or attempt to eradicate, the feminine.
The ego is a fascinating monster.
I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.
Fame is hollow. It amplifies what is there. If there is any self-doubt, or hatred, or lack of ability to connect with people, fame will magnify it.
I want to walk through life instead of being dragged through it.
Infidelity is a deal breaker for me. I've broken up with people over it. You can't do monogamy 90 percent of the time.
Part of being famous is offering up this blank screen upon which people can project everything, and it's a sacred act, putting yourself out there, in a way that lots of celebrities aren't steeled for; they're not prepared for the degree to which people define them.
You live, you learn.
I found that the more truthful and vulnerable I was, the more empowering it was for me.
I'm clearly most well known for my music. Eventually, ultimately, I'll be writing books. I'm still writing articles now. I just consider myself a writer.
I have not an ounce of regret. Every link is so valuable in forming the chain that is my life. Who I am today is because of those links, and I wouldn't change any of them.
With songwriting I spend a lot of time living life, accruing all these experiences, journaling, and then by the time I get to the studio I'm teeming with the drive to write.
Alpha men are very turned on by the alpha woman, really high chemistry, really fun to work with, probably really fun to have affairs with, but there's not sustainable harmony in that lack of complement. There can only be one person in the driver's seat.
Your political views really denote your spiritual views.
There's cleanliness to how I eat now. I'm much more in tune with my body, so now that I'm so in tune based on having become a semivegan, I can tell what foods affect energy levels. I can tell when I've been eating particularly high nutrient foods or I can tell when my glycemic levels are all over the place.
Partnership is the way. Dictatorial win-lose is so old-school.